What About Now
by iamkellylouise
Summary: He can't help but watch her from across the room, all he wants is one more chance. Featuring the song: 'What About Now' by Daughtry. Addex.


**A/N: Because this song has been stuck in my head for weeks!**

**Lyrics: What About Now - Daughtry **

* * *

Alex couldn't help but watch her from across the room. He knows she's probably thinking of the prom. Because this whole thing looks exactly the same. Except this time with 'Happy Retirement' banners spread across the room. She's probably pissed because Shepard got Chief. So this isn't just a 'Happy Retirement' party for Richard Webber it's an excuse for Derek Shepard to flex his ego. He can see the heartbreak in her eyes when she watches the couples spinning around the dance floor. Callie and George. Cristina and Burke. The Chief and his wife Adele. The killer one, Derek and Meredith. He wants to puke at them too. Oh and Mark and Izzie. That's new. He thinks she'd probably find that one funny. He certainly did. He'd missed his chance with her. He'd told her 'You're not my girlfriend' and he hated that he knew it had hurt her. And all he wanted to do was hold her in his arms and tell her that he loves her. As the song faded out the dance floor seemed to clear. He walked over to her quickly and planted himself firmly in front of her clearing his throat.

"Karev, what can I do for you?" she asked coldly.

"Dance with me" he said holding out his hand.

"Dance with you" she said almost with a laugh "No thanks"

"I don't like the word no, just one dance" he said hopefully.

"Your hands touch my ass and I will kill you" she hissed taking his hand, he led them out into the middle of the dance floor, he kept hold of one hand and wrapped his other arm around her waist. Her spare hand placed on his chest.

_Shadows fill an empty heart  
As love is fading,  
From all the things that we are  
But are not saying.  
Can we see beyond the stars  
And make it to the dawn?_

She relaxes into him after a while, maybe it's because there's something familiar about it. She doesn't know. He leans in close to her ear and whispers "I miss you"

"Don't" she said firmly "You don't want me"

"Yes I do"

She tries to pull away but he holds her in close, he can feel her whole body shaking against him.

_Change the colors of the sky.  
And open up to  
The ways you made me feel alive,  
The ways I loved you.  
For all the things that never died,  
To make it through the night,  
Love will find you._

"Oh my god" Meredith whispers.

"What?" Derek, Cristina and Izzie all say looking over at her.

"Look" Meredith said nodding over to the dance floor, they watch as Alex pulls Addison in tight to his body, they can see his lips moving, her body shaking, and if they look hard enough they can see a tear fall down her cheek.

"Oh my god" they all mutter.

_What about now?  
What about today?  
What if you're making me all that I was meant to be?  
What if our love never went away?  
What if it's lost behind words we could never find?  
Baby, before it's too late,  
What about now?_

"You said you didn't want me, you walked away Alex, you did not me" Addison says hoarsely "And I'm sick of giving people second chances, I'm sick of it so you don't get to do this, you don't get to pretend you care"

"I'm not pretending" Alex says seriously "I screwed up, I know I screwed up but, it won't happen again, I promise you"

_The sun is breaking in your eyes  
To start a new day.  
This broken heart can still survive  
With a touch of your grace.  
Shadows fade into the light.  
I am by your side,  
Where love will find you._

"What are we all staring at?" Mark says walking over to Izzie and handing her a drink.

"Montgomery and Evil Spawn getting _pretty_ close" Cristina smirked.

"Oh" Mark said simply, he takes a glance at the dancing couple "She does not want to be there"

"Oh she _so _does" Izzie smirked.

"Can anyone lip read?" asked Meredith.

"You're so nosy" Derek laughed.

"I can" Cristina grinned "Ok, well uh, Karev just said something about screwing"

"Oh how charming" Mark muttered.

"No, no wait, sorry that's, screwed up, he said he screwed up" said Cristina.

_What about now?  
What about today?  
What if you're making me all that I was meant to be?  
What if our love, it never went away?  
What if it's lost behind words we could never find?  
Baby, before it's too late,  
What about now?_

"Y'know, when you first said it I thought it was a joke" Addison sighed "Because even though I knew you could be blunt I didn't think you'd be that rude, but then you didn't stop and, I knew you were serious"

"I'm so sorry Addison" Alex whispered "I, I just got scared"

"Scared of what?"

"Breaking your heart"

"You already did"

_Now that we're here,  
Now that we've come this far,  
Just hold on.  
There is nothing to fear,  
For I am right beside you.  
For all my life,  
I am yours._

"Ok, ok, uh, something about scared, and breaking your heart" Cristina said quietly.

"Breaking her heart?" Derek said with a raised eyebrow.

"That's what it looked like" Cristina nodded.

"They don't exactly look unfamiliar with each other" said Meredith "Maybe something went on between them"

"They had sex in an on-call room last week" Mark said plainly, everyone looked at him with wide-eyes.

_What about now?  
What about today?  
What if you're making me all that I was meant to be?  
What if our love never went away?  
What if it's lost behind words we could never find?_

"If I could go back I would" Alex said pulling back a little and resting his palm on her cheek.

"You can't go back" Addison sighed.

"Tell me you don't want me and I'll walk away"

"I'm sick of giving out second chances"

"That's not an answer" Alex sighed "So you either tell me you don't want me anymore or you let me show you how much I love you"

"Alex" Addison whispered with a shaky voice.

_What about now?  
What about today?  
What if you're making me all that I was meant to be?  
What if our love never went away?  
What if it's lost behind words we could never find?_

"Holy crap" Cristina muttered.

"What? What did he say?!" Izzie exclaimed.

"He said, you either tell me you don't want me anymore or you let me show you how much I love you" Cristina said almost disbelievingly.

"Love?!" Mark and Derek exclaim.

"Love" Cristina nodded.

_Baby, before it's too late,  
Baby, before it's too late,  
Baby, before it's too late,  
What about now?_

The song comes to an end and the next one starts to play, they stopped dancing long before anyway. Alex rubs his thumb against her cheek wiping away a fresh tear.

"Addison, I love you, and if you let me, I'll spend the rest of my life making you feel the same way" he said softly, she connects her eyes with his, she can see the truth in them. His eyes have always spoken to her.

"I love you too" she sighs "You ass"

He laughs and kisses her hard on the lips, they snap apart when a resounding "Holy crap" comes from the corner of the room, they turn around and find the majority of the room staring at them, Alex turns to look at Addison with a sheepish grin, she rolls her eyes, takes his hand and leads him from the dance floor.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" Derek smirked.

"Shut up" Addison groaned.

"You, you love him?" Mark stuttered.

"Yes, I do, not that it's _any _of your business"

Before Mark could reply Callie walked out and held out her hand to Addison expectantly "$100 dollars please" she said with a smiled.

"Cal, I'm not giving you any money"

"I bet you $100 dollars that Alex loved you and he does so, money, now"

"Shopping next week?"

"Deal" Callie grinned "You break her heart again and I break you, you got that Karev?"

"I got it" Alex laughed "You wanna get out of here babe?"

"Yeah" Addison smiled "I just want to say goodbye to Richard"

"Sure" Alex smiled "Don't expect me home guys" he shouted over his shoulder as they walked away.

"This place just gets weirder and weirder" Cristina muttered.

_~x~_

"Addie" Richard smiled softly "Another one?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not your problem anymore Richard" Addison laughed "And Derek was the one who started it so, he's not really allowed to have a problem"

"You're happy?"

"Very" Addison smiled.

"As soon as she's not…." Richard said glaring at Alex.

"I know, I'm dead" Alex said with a slight laugh "But I'm not going anywhere" he smiled wrapping his arm around Addison's waist.

"Glad to hear it" Richard smiled.

"I can't believe you're leaving" Addison whispered wrapping her arms around Richard.

"I'll be back to check up on you all don't worry" he laughed "You're like the daughter I never had Addison, I love you, just be happy and stay happy"

"I will" Addison smiled "I'll be checking up on you too"

"I'm sure you will" Richard laughed "See you soon"

"See you soon" Addison smiled.

"Goodbye Sir" Alex nodded.

"I'm warning you Karev"

"I know, keep her happy" Alex smiled, with another nod he led Addison out of the hospital.

_~x~_

"Alex!" Addison shouted rapping her knuckles on the bathroom door of her hotel room "What are you doing in there?!"

"One minute" he shouted back, Addison huffed and sat on the edge of the bed, a minute later Alex opened the bathroom door "Come on in" he grinned.

"Alex wha…."

"Just come in" he laughed holding out his hand, she took it skeptically and he led her into the bathroom.

"Oh my god" she gasped, the room was filled with candles, the bathtub full of bubbles "Is this why we stopped by the store?"

"Yeah" he smiled sheepishly "Now, you need to get naked while I pour us some wine"

"Ok" she smiled taking her dress off and throwing it back into the bedroom, her underwear soon following, when she looked up Alex was stood in his boxers with two glasses of red wine in his hands, she took one with a sexy smile, she reached up to kiss him softly before taking a sip, he dropped his boxers and climbed into the bath, Addison climbed in after sitting in between his legs, leaning back into his chest.

"Alex Karev can be romantic, who knew" Addison said with a smirk.

"Just don't tell anyone" he laughed.

"This is nice" Addison sighed happily.

"I love you so much" Alex whispered kissing her temple softly "I'm so sorry, for everything I said I'm…."

"Stop apologizing" Addison said squeezing his leg a little "We're starting a fresh, from this moment on, fresh, I'll probably throw it back at you when we fight, because we will, because well, we're us and, relationships are unhealthy if there's no shouting whatsoever, but other than that, we're starting a fresh, together, because I love you Alex Karev, and I don't want to lose you again"

"You won't, I promise" he smiled.

"Let's just, shut up now, and sit here, together" Addison said softly.

"Together"

_~x~ ~x~ ~x~_


End file.
